Prostitution Meeting

On June 22, 2001 the Southeast Seminole Heights Civic Association organized a multi-agency meeting at the Seminole Heights Baptist Church to plan a systems approach to dealing with the problem of prostitution. Present at this meeting were Tampa Police Chief Bennie Holder, Hillsborough County State Attorney Mark Ober, Hillsborough County Public Defender Julianne Holt, Tampa City Council Members Rose Ferlita, Bob Buckhorn and Charlie Miranda, Hillsborough County Commissioners Thomas Scott and Chris Hart, Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office Major Rocky Rodriguez, City Of Tampa Code Enforcement Manager Bill Doherty, Tampa Crossroads Executive Director Dan Kane, and City of Tampa Neighborhood Liaison Julie Harris, among others. All of the above committed to participating in the prostitution task force. Tampa Crossroads introduced a new Prostitution and John's treatment program. The Court Administrator's Office reported on a study completed on prostitution arrests from September 2000 to March 2001.

Welcome! My name is Frank Roder; I am a vice president of the Southeast Seminole Heights Civic Association, a former president and one of the founding members of our civic association. Thank you for taking the time to meet with us this evening.

Welcome to Southeast Seminole Heights! We are a vibrant up and coming neighborhood alive with a very involved, active and visible neighborhood association. Our association was formed in 1989; we were one of the first neighborhoods in Tampa to organize neighborhood watch groups and a neighborhood civic association into one organization. We represent the 1500 homes and businesses between I-275 and 15th Street and from MLK Blvd. to Hillsborough Avenue. We welcome you to drive through our neighborhood and see first hand our revitalization. We also welcome you to invest in our neighborhood and to become a part of its rebirth!

We have fought neighborhood issues together, from closing down a neighborhood nuisance bar to closing our alleys. We have celebrated together as we have conducted 13 yearly neighborhood clean ups, actually we began long before NEAT was even envisioned. We have organized paint teams and we as a neighborhood association have painted 17 homes for Paint Your Heart Out - Tampa. We have porch parties, neighborhood picnics, dinners and we celebrate the diversity of one of Tampa's great old neighborhoods. We have adopted the motto “working together to make things better.” We are glad you are here tonight with us because we hope that through all of our efforts we can truly work together to make things better, not only in Southeast Seminole Heights but throughout the City of Tampa and Hillsborough County.

We in Southeast Seminole Heights, along with all the neighborhoods along Nebraska Avenue, have been fighting the problems associated with prostitution and its related criminal activity, the threats of violence associated, the health issues and public safety concerns along Nebraska Avenue since the beginning of our association’s formation in 1989. We have complained to all who would listen. During the summer of 1994, we as an association met with Chief Bennie Holder in his office and pleaded for something to be done to eradicate this problem. Over the years at our meetings we have asked Mayors Sandy Freedman and Dick Greco, numerous members of Tampa City Council, and members of the police department for help. In 1997, in a meeting at John Calvin Presbyterian Church all the neighborhoods along Nebraska Avenue gathered together and met with TPD and members of city council and pleaded for an end to our ongoing prostitution problem. We have called and complained for years but the problem continues. Other neighborhoods along Nebraska Avenue have had similar experiences over the years with the same result. Frustrated after years of unsuccessful attempts and complaining, we, as a neighborhood took action. Last year during two weeks in July we collected almost 300 names on a petition that we took before Tampa City Council in August of 2000 begging for an end to our problem. At that city council meeting I was quoted in Fridays Tampa Tribune, my quote, “It is humiliating when giving directions to my home to have to tell someone, take a left at the second hooker.” I wish I could say a year after my appearance at Tampa City Council that things had improved but on the morning of Saturday, June 9, 2001 at 2:30 AM if I was giving directions to my house I would have to told someone to take a left at the 13th hooker! That's right, on that morning in the distance of less than a mile from the Publix on Nebraska Av. to my street, Louisiana Av. one of my neighbors who was coming home from work counted 13 prostitutes! On Saturday morning June 16, 2001, at 2:45 AM there were 7 prostitutes in the 1/2 mile stretch on Nebraska between MLK and Osborne Av. I must ask? Where is the breakdown? Where are the community police efforts? Do we lack the laws to deal with this issue, do we lack the jail space, do we lack the needed social services, or do we just lack the motivation or political will to enforce the law? I will repeat what I said to Tampa City Council last August, “Prostitution is not a victimless crime. We feel that we are being held hostage and are victims in our own neighborhood. It is embarrassing to our residents, their guests, our businesses, and their customers.” I realize many of you do not live in our neighborhood and have not witnessed the problem firsthand, but would you tolerate such an intrusion into your lives if this occurred in your neighborhood?

After that city council meeting in August, we sought out media attention to assist us; we again met with members of Tampa Police Department and members of Tampa City Council as well as meeting in October with Chief Judge Dennis Alvarez and Judge Dominguez. At each meeting we offered suggestions and offered to assist in finding ways to solve the problem. Members of our association have researched what other communities have done, videotaped criminal activity occurring on our streets and have worked with other neighborhoods associations along Nebraska Avenue, with Tampa Neighborhood Watch and with THAN in hopes of once and for all ending the problem.

In November of 2000 we began a different approach. We became streetwalkers ourselves! Since November 3 we have walked along Nebraska Avenue on 23 different weekend nights. We proudly call these patrols, “the Exercise Club.” We have walked from 11:00 at night to as early as 4:00 AM. We have had as many as 20 of our neighbors and members from Tampa Neighborhood Watch, North Tampa, Ybor Heights, V.M. Ybor and Old Seminole Heights walking with us. We have walked as far south as Columbus Drive to as far north as Hanna Av. We would like to especially thank Lt. George McNamara, Sgt. Jim Contento and Cpl. Chris Ugles of the Tampa Police Department for their support and assistance in this endeavor. When our walkers are present the problem of prostitution is greatly reduced, unfortunately when we are not walking the problem returns. On many of these nights we have walked alone without the assistance of the police department. In fact on our last three walks, May 19, June 2 and 10 we walked without promised police escorts. How many of you out there would be willing to walk up and down Nebraska Avenue at one o’clock in the morning without a police escort? We have dedicated ourselves to this endeavor. In January 2001 we adopted the “Out by 02” campaign to eliminate prostitution along Nebraska Avenue by January 1, 2002. Our walking has been a part of that campaign. In fact tonight we have our walk schedule for the next three months, 11 more walks. This schedule shows our commitment as this schedule carries us into November, one full year of walking. In all, over the course of one year we will have walked in excess of 70 hours! How many people would donate almost two full weeks of work without getting paid? We will have walked over 70 hours by November; many might think that as being foolish, we call it dedication to a cause!

On April 25 we were recognized by the Hillsborough County Commission for winning the Public Safety Neighborhood Project of the year in Hillsborough County. On May 9 at the THAN meeting we received an award from Tampa’s Neighborhood Liaison, Julie Harris for our efforts to improve our neighborhood. We were very proud to have been recognized.

Realistically, how long must we walk to demonstrate we want an end to this problem? We are now ready to plan the necessary next steps to end the prostitution problem in ALL neighborhoods along Nebraska Avenue by January 1, 2002.

Where in Tampa is the robbery zone? Where in Tampa is the auto theft zone? Were in Tampa is the stick up zone? Why does Nebraska Avenue continue to be the prostitution zone? Just like robbery and auto theft, prostitution is a crime. We are continuing in our demand that steps be taken now to eliminate this zone. Last year at the same time we went before city council the six foot rule was being established as a law in adult businesses in the city of Tampa. We demand that the same aggressiveness that is being used to enforce that law be used to assist us. What goes on in adult use businesses goes on beyond closed doors, out of the public’s view. What is going on in our neighborhoods is in plain view to us all, residents and visitors, children and families included. It is an intrusion into our everyday lives! We must work together for all of our neighborhoods to continue to thrive. We need your help and commitment. We are here tonight to take this to the next level, to develop a system wide solution to reduce the prostitution problem in our city and county. We don’t want our problem to just leave and go to another neighborhood and become that neighborhoods problem. We are in this fight together, working to improve the quality of live in all of our neighborhoods! I repeat, We need your help and commitment. The solutions to this problem are there, what seems to be missing is the political will to make things happen. Many residents in our neighborhoods fell that the decision makers of Tampa have given up on us and our problems, they feel as if the failure to deal with this issue is an indication that it can continue to occur. In fact the prostitutes themselves feel that they have the right to continue to conduct business in our neighborhood as they told us on Sunday morning, June 10, as we were walking “to get out of our neighborhood.” We know for a fact they do not live in our neighborhood, why do they have the right to claim our neighborhood as theirs and fell that they can continue to act and conduct business with impunity? We now propose creating a Task Force made up of citizens, Tampa Police Department, Hillsborough County Sheriffs Department, the judiciary, The states attorney, public defender, legislative delegates (City Council, County Commissioners, State Representatives and State Senators), and community agencies as well as members of academia to develop an action plan” while looking for solutions together. This working committee will coordinate a time line and a plan to implement the next steps, explore solutions, and monitor arrests whilesynchronizing community agencies to work with the courts and the police department. We strongly feel that by working together we can find workable solutions. For those of you who believe a task force approach will not work, I ask you: Is the present approach being utilized by the Tampa Police Department and the court system working? Why not try a novel approach, while bringing us all together for a common goal.

Again thank you for being here and we hope that this is the beginning of us all working together to help the citizens of Hillsborough County.In closing I would like to repeat the words of the famous anthropologist, Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has.”Please take a few minutes to view the following slides of the Seminole Heights area. After looking at them you will have a better understanding of our dedication and why we are trying to restore our neighborhood to the showplace it can be!

Presentation of solutions to help deal with the problem of prostitution

1. All parties in the criminal justice system should understand that street level prostitution is a problem that needs to be dealt with.

2. A multi-agency task force needs to be created to address the issues from a systems level rather than piecemeal. This task force should consist of representatives from Tampa Police Department, Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office (and other police agencies), State's Attorney, Probation, Department of Juvenile Justice, appropriate Social Service Agencies/Treatment Providers, City and County Government, other agencies such as Code Enforcement or Health Department, and Judges if appropriate. Consideration should be made to have some academic representatives such as from USF departments of Social Work and Criminology. This task force should look at all facets of the problem, and use efforts that have worked in past but also try new creative ideas.

3. (POLICE) Increase the arrests of johns, prostitutes, pimps and those who profit from prostitution such as their boyfriends and husbands, bars, motels and etc.

4. (STATE'S ATTORNEY OFFICE) Standardize motions for court orders of convicted prostitutes and johns. The requested orders for prostitutes should include requiring them to enter into a treatment program designed to turn their life around. The court order should also include requiring substance abuse and domestic violence assessment and treatment. Most importantly the court orders should restrict the prostitute from returning to the area where they were arrested (mapping). The court orders for johns should include attendance in a john's school and restrict them from returning to the area they were arrested. It may need to include individual and marital counseling.

5. (POLICE) In coordination with the courts and probation authorities create a database of those arrested for prostitution activities to include information about any court order restricting them from any area. Then increase the number of field interviews of alleged prostitutes and johns and arrest those who have violated their court order.

6. (JUDGES.) Offenders should be sentenced to probation, which should include treatment as noted above and a restriction from returning to the area from which they were arrested. If probation is violated then the maximum jail sentence should be applied.

7. (MISDEMEANOR PROBATION OFFICERS) Hold those engaged in prostitution activity strictly to the terms of their probation. Work closely with the police and expedite violations. Make an extra effort to help the probationer enter into any treatment programs and provide appropriate social service referrals.

8. (MISDEMEANOR PROBATION OFFICERS) Create an instant violation system. Have an on-call probation officer available 24 hours a day, whom police can call to arrange for immediate violations of probationers, so police can take the person immediately to jail.

9. (NEIGHBORHOOD RESIDENTS AND BUSINESSES) Improve lighting around homes and businesses to remove dark areas that prostitutes can hide to avoid police. Clean up brushy areas and overgrown lots that provide another area for prostitutes to hide or to conduct business. Contact police every time a prostitute or john is observed or prostitution activity is noted. Businesses should work closely with police in the trespass-warning program.